Authored By Chloé Morrison

A local entrepreneur, who recently moved from Silicon Valley to Chattanooga, has launched a new platform aimed at empowering product buyers. Founder Damon Pace has been a web entrepreneur for years and moved to Chattanooga about a year and a half ago after deciding Silicon Valley didn't provide the kind of lifestyle he wanted. His new platform, Buyer Squad, has several functions, including uniting the masses to get what they want. "As a community, we can come together to create petitions [through Buyer Squad]," he said. "Instead of being a petition for political change, it's a petition to say, 'We want a Trader Joe's in Chattanooga.'" Users can create petitions to signal buyer interest and then Pace reaches out to the company to let them know of the community's interest, he said. "It gives people a voice," he said. There are campaigns on Buyer Squad to bring Chipotle, Trader Joe's and Bird to Chattanooga. The platform also aims to help businesses reach customers with deals and vice versa. Businesses can connect with customers they might not be able to otherwise and customers can get deals participating companies offer, Pace said. "It's giving business access to their customers and letting customers come together to get better prices," he said. The platform is similar to Groupon, except Pace isn't taking a percentage of the deals, he said. Once a user signs up, they can access deals from area businesses and participate in or start a petition. Businesses can list deals and users get credits for getting others to sign up. Pace has several different possibilities for monetizing the platform but hasn't settled on one yet. He has a low overhead cost and is waiting to see what option makes the most sense. The platform may also be a place where consumers can join with others and use the power of numbers to get a discount. "We can't a million people that want a new iPhone negotiate a better deal?" he said.